All things home – the one you live in and the one you invest in too…..

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OK – so maybe I don’t blog very often, and I haven’t been around for a while, but that is all about to change. I’ve been working very hard behind the scenes, I’ve been reading lots of blogging books and am about to book in to do a blogging course (seeing as I missed out on tickets to ProBlogger – but I’m already planning for next years trip!). I’m inspired and determined. The Goose starts kindy next year and I will have 2 and a half days a week to devote to this blog. Not much, I know, but it’s a start. And seeing as there are only 5 actual subscribers, I think that’s a lot of time for you! Let’s hope that by the time kindy comes around we have doubled that subscription number (or maybe even have it at 50? 100?? 500??? Oh, c’mon, a girl can dream!)

Anyway, back to the point of today’s post….Buggybuddys are having their 2013 Awards for the best of everything in WA. And I’m hoping to get some nominations…from at least 4 people seeing as one of those 5 subscribers is me!

I know there is absolutely no way I will be able to win this thing, but some nominations will boost my confidence in this blog world and that is what I need! And subscribers. Let’s not forget about that.

It is a very basic form – you can fill in the name of the business/place you want to vote for and there are lots of different categories. There is also a section for Best Photographer (which of course would be Samphire Photography)

The best bit of all – just by voting you go in the draw to win a family membership to Perth Zoo. So what are you waiting for….pop over and vote….even if it isn’t for me!

This is something that I say quite often. It is usually followed by ‘well nothing that fits anyway’. You see the problem is I can’t get rid of the things that don’t fit. I am the heaviest I have ever been (which means I am heavier than the day I checked into hospital to give birth, which was previously the heaviest I had ever wanted to be).

So now it is time to face the scales and not let them get the better of me. In doing so, I am also going to decrapify. That’s a word, even though my computer tells me it isn’t. In my world, it’s a word. There is no point in keeping the beautiful Charlie Brown size 8 top. It’s never going to fit again, and if it does, it certainly wont be as stylish as it was back when I was a size 8.

Here is a very embarrassing pic for me to show you – my wardrobe. As my weight has increased, the organised space that was my closet, has become more and more of a mess. For those of you that know me personally, you will be a little shocked at how this space now looks….

Let me show you a little more about how it looks at ground level…shoes have been multiplying and taking over

What is really bad (not only the design of this walk in robe – with only hanging space and no drawers!) is the fact that the poor shelf is giving way under the weight of all of my excess clothes…as if that isn’t a sign…

So I have spent the last few days pulling everything out from the floor, even from The Man’s side

I’m trying to decrapify it completely by pulling out things that definitely do not fit me, things that I haven’t worn for more than a year and things that I am keeping ‘for when I fit into size 8’s again’. I’ve faced reality, and have come to accept that my hips will never be a size 8 again. Size 10 maybe, but size 8 just isn’t realistic. Not in the next year anyway, so it’s time for those clothes to go. I haven’t been a size 8 for over 7 years now, so no point keeping it any longer!

Anyway, now I have shown you an embarrassingly disorganized space in my house, and soon I will show it to you in all its glory. I’d love to have the professional people come in an put shelves and drawers and pretty placed to hang bags in there, but that just isn’t in the budget. But you’ll see…it will look nice again soon.

So things have been kind of busy around here…..well not on the blog, but at home! We have been doing lots of behind the scenes clean ups and attending lots of birthday parties and it was also Mother’s Day in there somewhere. I had the mother-out-law staying with us after surgery for a week and my now 3 year old also had her birthday, which meant a new big girls room had to be done, plus a whole heap of other stuff too.

When I started this blog, my then 2 year old was attending a day care kindy one day per week, plus she was also going to her Nanny’s house for a couple of hours on one day – but now she doesn’t go to either of those, so it means less time in front of a computer for me….not great when you have just started a blog….also not great when you have listed your blog on Australian Top 100 Blogs!!

Not that I think I’ll make it into the top 100, but you have to aim for something right? I’d also love to attend the Problogger Training Event happening later this year, but not sure that I can justify getting there just yet??? What do you think?? I guess I better post a little more often 🙂

Anyway, this is all I can squeeze in while today’s episode of Play School allows me a bit of free time – hopefully I’ll be back soon!

That’s right. Today is the day. I’ve done it before, so I can do it again. I mean seriously…it’s just a drink right?? A nice bubbly fizzy drink. But I’m kinda addicted. Not in a bad way, I don’t drink 2 litres of the stuff everyday. Some people do. Ewwww. I couldn’t imagine that.

Anyway, back to me….. Today, Tuesday 14th May 2013, I am going to cut back on my intake of Coca Cola. I have at least a can a day. Sometimes two. If I am staying up late and trying to power through some work I might even have three cans in one day. Heavy stuff, I know!

But it’s bad for me. I tastes good, soooo good, but it has to stop. I have to stop. Well, I don’t have to. I don’t have a medical condition or anything serious like that, its just I want to stop. I mean I am not stopping completely, I just wont be drinking it on weekdays. Can you see the fight I am having with myself here??

There is no more Coke left in the house, and I am not buying any more, except for things like parties, and when we are having people over (the Man can’t have rum without coke you see).

So here goes…..wish me luck, and determination, and strong will (something I definitely do not have).

It is the start of May and we are still having warm weather, although today, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting bad weather for the rest of the week.

Wednesday 8 May

Summary

Min 16

Max 19

A few storms. Heavy showers.

Chance of any rain: 95%

Rainfall amount: 20 to 40 mm

Perth area

Cloudy. Heavy showers and scattered thunderstorms. Destructive winds possible early in the morning. Gusty winds during the day. Winds northerly 25 to 35 km/h decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h before dawn then increasing to 45 km/h before turning westerly 25 to 40 km/h during the day.

So I thought it was perfect weather to have a roast lamb!! My computer is being very uncooperative and wont allow an upload of the before photo, so hopefully later we can add an the cooked version of the photo.

Today was a special day for my little Goose. She had been looking forward to it for a while. We were going to the West Australian Ballet Centre for a little kids Ballet Experience. We were going to watch real ballerinas rehearsing. We were going to have such a fantastic time. That was until we got there……

The little Goose got soooo shy that she sat on my lap for pretty much all of the lesson. Even when I stood next to her in the class, she still didn’t move. When I tried recalling my own ballet experience from more than 30 years ago, she still just stared wide eyed at me like I was throwing her to the lions.

Morning tea and craft time came and went, she was still clinging to my side. I asked her if we should sneak out the door and go home as everyone went upstairs to watch the rehearsal, but she whispered ‘I very want to watch the ballerinas mummy’. So up the stairs we went….and those little eyes changed from being scared and alone to amazed and mesmerised. She told me they were the most beautiful ballerinas she had ever seen. There was a grand piano in the room and as soon as the pianist started, the little smile on the Gooses face got wider and wider and her eyes glazed over and she was gone….off into her own little world, and it was a beautiful sight. She turned to me and asked if we could stay and watch them forever.

So thank you to all the wonderful dancers and staff at West Australian Ballet Centre. You made my little girls eyes shine so brightly and I don’t care that she didn’t join in with the class – but I love that she loved just watching the real ballerinas!

And what are you to do after watching 20 or so extremely fit, agile, strong, healthy, slim dancers??? Head off to Sherbet of course! My chocolate raspberry cake went down a treat with a chocolate milkshake to share.

I started out thinking the day would be disaster, but as it turned out, it was lovely and my Little Goose had such a good time that 4 hours later she is still trying to point her toes.

So here I am, starting a blog about being at home, hence the name Home…with Charlie. That’s me, Charlie.

Black and white makes it more flattering right?

I’m a mum in my late 30’s (urggghhhh) and I’m trying to make my house more like a home. I work a couple of jobs, I have a partner – lets just call him The Man and together we have a beautiful spirited little almost 3 year old girl, a dog, and a big pile of clutter.

My hope is that by documenting my wishlist of changes to the house, it will actually spur me on to get it done. Either that or the ‘before’ photos will embarrass me so much that I’ll have to admit that this is what my house looks like. Don’t get me wrong, the bones are good, its a lovely house….but its just that – a house, not a home, and that is what I am trying to make it. Me and my not so crafty hands. In my mind I can picture it and it looks gorgeous. Its just my craftiness and ability with tools that let me down. So lets see where this journey will take us…..are you coming along for the ride? I’ll keep you updated with the home beautification process, the things we do around here, tips and hints, recipes, crafty ideas and some info on the things I love.